He is near — on holidays no less.

November 27, 2013

Holiday winds don’t automatically bring cheer. In fact, sometimes they just aggravate the rheumatic spots in our lives — old aches, heartbreaks, disappointments, sorrow. Sometimes I admit I’m more prone to upset or melancholy as the holidays draw near. The brightness of the holidays illuminates all that is wrong or missing instead of revealing what is right and whole. And the more I try to pretend I have no pain and that my life or loved ones aren’t sorely broken in parts, the more painful and broken they all feel. I look to what I think Wholeness should look like. I look to what I think Joy ought to look like. And I look in all the wrong places and faces. Because anywhere and anyone except Christ is the wrong Where and Who. Let me — let us — remember that tomorrow, Thanksgiving, and as Christmas draws near. Because we need Him every day — on holidays no less. And He is near —